Tao Chen replied, "I was going to sleep, but you woke me up."
Oh, so that's what happened after that birdman woke Tao Chen up. I wonder what he said, maybe he used his taunt skill again...
Just as Lu Mingran was speculating, Tao Chen said:
You said you would definitely help me.
Lu Mingran's hand, which was pressing on the towel, stiffened for a moment.
"I... I said that to you? I said that to you?"
Tao Chen was confused by him: "Yes, that's what you told me, back when your face wasn't swollen yet."
Lu Mingran couldn't help but smile to herself.
Then, he turned to Tao Chen and said, "Let me say it again."
The birdman said, "I will definitely help you."
This time, Lu Mingran said to him, "I will definitely help you."
——————
Song Gaishui would also return to the city, and even had an apartment there. When the poison in his body wasn't acting up, he would live in his small apartment.
Lu Mingran and Tao Chen had their eyes on this apartment. After some investigation, they discovered that there was a fairly large supermarket right below the apartment. In other words, Song Gaishui was very likely to go shopping at the supermarket after she returned.
Lu Mingran made a quick decision and assigned Tao Chen a glorious task.
Just as Lu Mingran had predicted, Song Gaishui entered the supermarket that day.
For Song Gaishui, everything was normal at first, except that the new cashier's face was a little swollen, until he was stopped by a salesman.
This is a common supermarket salesperson, holding a tray and trying hard to persuade you to try a small cup of yogurt or a snack. Song Gaishui didn't pay much attention and picked up the small cup to take a sip.
...The taste is a bit strange, astringent and slightly bitter.
But since it was free, Song Gaishui didn't say much and turned to leave.
However, another cup was quickly handed over.
Song Gaishui's mind suddenly went blank for a moment.
He looked at the man wearing an apron and bone rings on his hands, and had a feeling that he should have seen this man before, but he couldn't remember where he had seen him before.
He looked at the cup in front of him again, feeling as if he had drunk from it before, but he couldn't quite put his finger on where or when.
So, just like last time, he politely drank another small glass, and once again frowned because it tasted awful.
Song Gaishui had no idea that there were thirty-one more cups waiting for him.
Lu Mingran, who was at the cashier, witnessed the whole thing. Tao Chen chased after Song Gaishui with a plate all the way, but because Tao Chen was someone who had been erased from the world, Song Gaishui had no memory of him at all.
"Honey, have a taste!"
"Sir, are you interested?"
...Before she knew it, it was dark outside. Song Gaishui tilted her head in confusion: How did I end up shopping at the supermarket until dark? What did I do?
Looking ahead, the man smiled broadly and offered him a plate of drinks.
Looking at the plate with only a few cups left, Song Gaishui said, "Your drinks seem to be very popular; the samples are almost all gone."
"yes."
Tao Chen glanced at Song Gaishui's bloated belly from drinking too much, and smiled innocently, but in reality, a fox's tail was wagging behind his back:
"Sir, would you like to try a drink? This is a limited-edition experience, very rare, just one drink."
Chapter 84 Want to study philosophy? No way. (The End)
One bottle of snake wine, divided into thirty-three portions, was passed to Song Gaishui to drink in turn.
This was Lu Mingran's idea. Doesn't the world want everyone to forget Tao Chen, to make everyone forget him? Well then, I'll take advantage of that.
If you can't fight the world, then find a way to seize its blade and use it for your own purposes.
Even the system, a guy who's seen a lot, was surprised by Lu Mingran's idea, but having followed Lu Mingran for so long, it quickly accepted it.
Thirty-three cups were finally all poured into Song Gaishui's stomach, not a single one left. Although, in the end, Song Gaishui's state of mind—being tricked and not even knowing what happened—was rather pitiful.
That night, the medicinal wine took effect, and the poison in Song Gaishui's body was immediately relieved. When he woke up, he found that his body had changed.
In fact, Song Gaishui originally liked to wander around. He only lived in this city because he was poisoned and wanted to be closer to the ancient tomb. Now that he was no longer bound by this, he planned to leave.
Although he didn't know why his health suddenly improved, Song Gaishui didn't think too much about it. He thought it was probably fate's arrangement.
On the day he was leaving, Song Gaishui took the phone number Tao Chen had given him and made a call. Upon learning that Song Gaishui was leaving, Tao Chen exchanged pleasantries for a while and couldn't help but ask about his family.
"It's best if you don't know anything about our family affairs."
Song Gaishui sighed and said, "Also, I advised you not to get stuck on one thing, and not to overly trust your own ideas or the path you have chosen."
Thus, the main storyline of the past was changed.
Following the system's instructions, Lu Mingran led Tao Chen back to the future, a future that had already been altered.
As dusk fell, Lu Mingran, dressed in a white cloak, walked along the street with Tao Chen.
The future lies in the white fog at the end.
Tao Chen paused for a moment: "Go over there, and you won't be there anymore."
"Yes, if you don't pursue the ultimate truth, you naturally won't know of my existence."
Lu Mingran turned around. He was about to say something more when suddenly he saw a very strange sight.
On the other side of the street, the buildings and scenery changed, becoming exactly the same as everything on this side.
But that's not all. At the other end of the street, two people walked towards them, one wearing a white cloak and the other wearing a bone ring.
The person in the white cloak walked in front, greeting the people behind with disdain:
"I'm taking you back to the past out of pure kindness, so you'd better behave yourself."
"I know."
"Call me Lord Bird King." The person in the white cloak insisted on correcting his form of address.
It seemed they couldn't see Lu Mingran, but in the instant they brushed past each other, the birdman turned his head and his eyes met Lu Mingran's gaze.
In that instant, we brushed past each other.
Lu Mingran stood there, watching the two leave one after the other.
Two worlds, yet ultimately, the same choice was made.
For a moment, Lu Mingran didn't know what to think. He lowered his head and smiled. When he looked up again, he told Tao Chen to come along and hurry back to the future.
“Believe me,” Lu Mingran said, “I see the arrangement of fate; you are destined to forget me.”
He was telling the truth.
When Tao Chen returned to the future, he was still the sect leader, but he was no longer the insightful sect leader he once was, nor did he have so many enemies. One of his daily hobbies was drinking with his friend Ji Huan, occasionally getting beaten up by his friend.
Sometimes when he's very drunk, he dreams of a door, behind which is a vast white world, and falling bird feathers.
Or, he dreamed that he was standing in the middle of a large playground, surrounded by elders from various sects who were eyeing him menacingly, while in the distance, he saw what appeared to be a small figure crouching on a rooftop watching him.
The dream was fragmented, and upon waking, I could hardly remember any of it.
On the other side, because this was a parallel world rather than the original main world, Lu Mingran took a bus and returned there first.
As he had anticipated, his ultimate fate was oblivion. However, the birdman had left Tao Chen something: a pile of notes bearing Tao Chen's name. This became a mystery Tao Chen could never unravel for the rest of his life. He wanted to know who wrote them and why, but he would never guess.
It was dusk again, and the bus stopped by the roadside.
Lu Mingran got on the bus, randomly chose a seat, and soon fell asleep. He had a long dream that made him feel very tired.
In his dream, he returned to the convenience store and bullied Su Yun as usual, but before he had enough, he was already sitting in Gu He's restaurant...
As consciousness gradually returned to her body, Lu Mingran smelled the salty air.
It's the sea breeze.
He opened his eyes, stunned by the sight before him. The bus had stopped on the seaside road, with vast expanses of crimson clouds stretching across the sky, and the sound of ship horns so close to him.
Lu Mingran now held a yellowed boat ticket in her hand.
"Here you go, your ticket back," the system said. "It's time to go back."
"Can I... go back now?"
"Yes, but there's one last task to complete."
Seeing Lu Mingran caressing the boat ticket, the system handed him something else: a hotel job posting, seemingly looking for a manager. The envelope was decorated with black roses, which looked eerie and ominous.
This envelope is blatantly telling job applicants that coming here is a dead end.
The system pondered for a moment and said, "To be honest, very few people manage to complete the last task. Ming Ran, this means that the last one will probably be quite difficult."
That sounds terrifying.
Of course, he believed that Lu Mingran would always find a way. After spending so much time together, the system felt that Lu Mingran was ready to establish her own sect.
Lu Mingran leaned against the window, gazing at the sea. The way back was right in front of him, but he was somewhat lost in thought.
In fact, Lu Mingran felt that the days she spent in these worlds were actually quite happy.
The system, thinking he was worried about the difficulty of the next mission, couldn't help but comfort and remind him:
"Someone will help you, don't be afraid."
“…Who?” Lu Mingran finally came to her senses.
The system replied, "It's not just one person."
Huh? Not a specific person? Lu Mingran thought for a moment, wondering if it could be some kind of animal?
But that's clearly not what the system meant. It explained that it meant there would be many people.
The system's audio was distorted by the waves.
“Mingran, those male leads you pushed back are very likely to all appear in the last mission.”